MA Theatre

MA Theatre

The School of Fine and Performing Arts is a centre of creativity with a purpose-built arts venue, studios and gallery. It is home to a vibrant artistic community where students and staff work alongside one another to explore new synergies between fine and performing arts.

The Course

MA Theatre offers graduates in Drama, Literature, Dance, Fine Arts and other related areas of study, opportunities to further develop their knowledge and skills in Theatre and Performance, with a view to pursuing careers in the theatrical professions or other creative industries. The course also can serve as a foundation for academic research at MPhil or PhD level.

The emphasis of MA Theatre is on the vast range of recent developments in drama, theatre and performance practice and research. The programme makes full use of the expertise of staff across the Lincoln School of Fine and Performing Arts, which embodies in depth knowledge of contemporary theatre-making.

The Course

MA Theatre places an emphasis on the vast range of recent developments in drama, theatre and performance practice and research. The programme makes full use of the expertise of staff across the Lincoln School of Fine and Performing Arts, which embodies in-depth knowledge of contemporary theatre-making.

Staff have expertise in running professional touring companies, playwriting, dramaturgy, theatre criticism, and writing successful research grant applications and funding bids. Our research-active team publish on dramaturgy and theatre-making in academic literature.

You have the opportunity to benefit from a combination of practical experience and theoretical study. This approach is designed to enhance your career prospects by preparing you for a variety of roles in theatre, media production, management, research and education.

MA Theatre is taught across the academic year through lectures, seminars, group workshops and blended learning strategies utilising facilities including the performance studios of the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, BlackBoard's online learning environment and the latest digital technologies allowing us to engage diverse learners through a variety of means.

In between scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in self-directed study, supported by academic staff, which includes allocated and autonomously researched journal articles, book chapters and relevant journalism, as well as watching video content and engaging with other materials, often suggested or made accessible through each module's online learning site. Students also undertake regular formative assignments that are not assessed as part of their final grade, but are designed to have significant benefits to their learning.

Programme Structure

Term 1

Perspectives on PerformanceResearch TerritoriesWriting about Theatre

Term 2

Perspectives on PerformanceDramaturgy in PracticeWriting for Theatre

Term 3

In the final term students will complete either the Research Project, the Practice-as-Research Project, or the Collaborative Project.

Contact Hours and Independent Study

Weekly contact hours on this programme may vary depending on the individual modules and the stage of study. Postgraduate level study also involves a significant proportion of independent study exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour in class students are expected to spend at least four - five hours in independent study.

What dynamics are at play when making a piece of theatre in collaboration? What is it about collaboration that allows artists to integrate their skill-sets into the theatre-making process? How do you critically reflect on the piece of work you make?

This module provides collaborators with the opportunity to explore a final project together within a practical and theoretical context.

Why are critical skills important within contemporary theatre-making contexts? In what ways might those skills feed into theatre-making processes? How might we market ourselves as critical theatre-makers to attract the interest of arts-based educational institutes, organisations and industries? And how might we contribute meaningfully to the work of such bodies?

What features characterise contemporary theatre and performance practices? What factors have shaped their development in comparative national and international contexts? How have theatre and performance responded to contemporary society? What are the key issues facing arts practitioners and institutions today? And which theoretical frameworks might help us to understand the contemporary landscapes of theatre and performance?

This module examines these questions by offering a range of perspectives on performance from experts within and beyond the University of Lincoln.

How might the practices used to make theatre and performance be used effectively as research methodologies? What might we discover by applying such practices to the investigation of a chosen topic? And how might those investigations illuminate our understanding of wider issues in history, society, politics and culture?

This module facilitates students in using theatre and performance practices as methodological tools for discovering information, and potentially for producing knowledge, at postgraduate level.

How might you use the tools of discovery encountered on the MA to produce an extended study with academic rigour? How might the concept pitched during the Perspectives on Performance module evolve with specialist supervision?

This module gives you the opportunity to research and write a bespoke project that is informed and informative, specific to a topic that fascinates you.

How can we deepen our approaches to research? How might deep and specific approaches to research enrich the critical and creative work that we produce? What are the distinctions and overlaps between various research methodologies and the different final projects that they are capable of producing?

This module provides opportunities to see research practices anew: as creative and intellectual stimuli, and as integral to the production of original work.

What do different professional, cultural and theoretical contexts lend to our understanding of theatre? How might we analyse a piece of theatre deeply and communicate that deep knowledge in a range of ways? How might we write about theatre with clarity and precision for different readers?

This module examines and puts into practice a range of professional modes of writing about theatre: as scholars, as critics and as theatre-makers.

How do we write for theatre? How do we perform writing and how does our writing perform? How does what we write reflect who we are and the world in which we live? How might we give voice to the unspoken and speak truth to power? How might we find the words that events make us speak? How might words paint a thousand pictures?

Taking questions such as these, students have the chance to write a new piece of theatre and reflect on that process with a view to becoming a critical theatre-maker.

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

MASTERS

Collaborative Project (Option)†

Dramaturgy in Practice (Core)

Perspectives on Performance (Core)

Practice as Research Project (Option)†

Research Project (Option)†

Research Territories (Core)

Writing about Theatre (Core)

Writing for Theatre (Core)

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

Modules are assessed by a combination of written essay, critical portfolio, student blog, funding form, prospective journal article, panel discussion, individual and group presentation and/or focused practical workshop or performance. Student progress is subject to continuous assessments on all modules in the programme in addition to final assessed outputs.

Assessment will focus on: demonstration of practical and theoretical engagement with research; articulation and demonstration of knowledge regarding a wide range of theatre performance; critical enquiry and analysis; and contextualising students' own work and the work of others within the field of historical or contemporary performance practice and scholarship.

Students on the MA Theatre play an active role in choosing the focus and, in some cases, even the modes of their assessments in consultation with relevant module tutors and in ways that align with their individual career goals. This practice embraces the University of Lincoln's core ethos of ‘Student as Producer’ by empowering postgraduate students to shape and take ownership of their learning.

Assessment Feedback

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly – usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

Applicants may be asked to attend an interview in person or over Skype. Written evidence will be required in the form of a recent sample of critical or creative writing. Please contact programme leaders for further information:

Loans

A new system of postgraduate loans for Master's courses has been introduced in the UK. Under the new scheme individuals** will be able to borrow up to £10,609 for the purpose of completing an eligible postgraduate Master's qualification.

Scholarships

As a postgraduate student you may be eligible for scholarships in addition to those shown above.

Guidance for Part-time Postgraduate Fees

To complete a standard Master's Taught programme, you must complete 180 credit points.

Full time students will be invoiced for the programme in full upon initial enrolment.

For part-time students, tuition fees are payable each credit point enrolled. To calculate your part-time fees, multiply the part-time fee per credit point by the number of credits you intend to complete within that academic year. This is usually between 60 and 90 credit points per year.

For example, if the fee per credit point for your programme is £38, and you enrol on 60 credits, the tuition fee payable for that academic year will be £2280.

Fees for enrolment on additional modules

Tuition fees for additional activity are payable by the student/sponsor and charged at the equivalent £ per credit point rate for each module. Additional activity includes:

- Enrolment on modules that are in addition to the validated programme curriculum

- Enrolment on modules that are over and above the full credit diet for the relevant academic year

- Retakes of modules as permitted by the Board of Examiners

Exceptionally tuition fees may not be payable where a student has been granted a retake with approved extenuating circumstances.

For further information and for details about funding your study, scholarships and bursaries, please see our Postgraduate Fees & Funding pages [www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studyatlincoln/postgraduateprogrammes/feesandfunding/].

Other Costs

For each course you may find that there are additional costs. These may be with regard to the specific clothing, materials or equipment required.

With regards to text books, the University provides students who enrol with a comprehensive reading list and you will find that our extensive library holds either material or virtual versions of the core texts that you are required to read. However, you may prefer to purchase some of these for yourself and you will be responsible for this cost.

MA Theatre is taught across the academic year through lectures, seminars, group workshops and blended learning strategies utilising facilities including the performance studios of the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, BlackBoard's online learning environment and the latest digital technologies allowing us to engage diverse learners through a variety of means.

In between scheduled sessions, students are expected to engage in self-directed study, supported by academic staff, which includes allocated and autonomously researched journal articles, book chapters and relevant journalism, as well as watching video content and engaging with other materials, often suggested or made accessible through each module's online learning site. Students also undertake regular formative assignments that are not assessed as part of their final grade, but are designed to have significant benefits to their learning.

Programme Structure

Term 1

Perspectives on PerformanceResearch TerritoriesWriting about Theatre

Term 2

Perspectives on PerformanceDramaturgy in PracticeWriting for Theatre

Term 3

In the final term students will complete either the Research Project, the Practice-as-Research Project, or the Collaborative Project.

Contact Hours and Independent Study

Weekly contact hours on this programme may vary depending on the individual modules and the stage of study. Postgraduate level study also involves a significant proportion of independent study exploring the material covered in lectures and seminars. As a general guide, for every hour in class students are expected to spend at least four - five hours in independent study.

What dynamics are at play when making a piece of theatre in collaboration? What is it about collaboration that allows artists to integrate their skill-sets into the theatre-making process? How do you critically reflect on the piece of work you make?

This module provides collaborators with the opportunity to explore a final project together within a practical and theoretical context.

Why are critical skills important within contemporary theatre-making contexts? In what ways might those skills feed into theatre-making processes? How might we market ourselves as critical theatre-makers to attract the interest of arts-based educational institutes, organisations and industries? And how might we contribute meaningfully to the work of such bodies?

What features characterise contemporary theatre and performance practices? What factors have shaped their development in comparative national and international contexts? How have theatre and performance responded to contemporary society? What are the key issues facing arts practitioners and institutions today? And which theoretical frameworks might help us to understand the contemporary landscapes of theatre and performance?

This module examines these questions by offering a range of perspectives on performance from experts within and beyond the University of Lincoln.

How might the practices used to make theatre and performance be used effectively as research methodologies? What might we discover by applying such practices to the investigation of a chosen topic? And how might those investigations illuminate our understanding of wider issues in history, society, politics and culture?

This module facilitates students in using theatre and performance practices as methodological tools for discovering information, and potentially for producing knowledge, at postgraduate level.

How might you use the tools of discovery encountered on the MA to produce an extended study with academic rigour? How might the concept pitched during the Perspectives on Performance module evolve with specialist supervision?

This module gives you the opportunity to research and write a bespoke project that is informed and informative, specific to a topic that fascinates you.

How can we deepen our approaches to research? How might deep and specific approaches to research enrich the critical and creative work that we produce? What are the distinctions and overlaps between various research methodologies and the different final projects that they are capable of producing?

This module provides opportunities to see research practices anew: as creative and intellectual stimuli, and as integral to the production of original work.

What do different professional, cultural and theoretical contexts lend to our understanding of theatre? How might we analyse a piece of theatre deeply and communicate that deep knowledge in a range of ways? How might we write about theatre with clarity and precision for different readers?

This module examines and puts into practice a range of professional modes of writing about theatre: as scholars, as critics and as theatre-makers.

How do we write for theatre? How do we perform writing and how does our writing perform? How does what we write reflect who we are and the world in which we live? How might we give voice to the unspoken and speak truth to power? How might we find the words that events make us speak? How might words paint a thousand pictures?

Taking questions such as these, students have the chance to write a new piece of theatre and reflect on that process with a view to becoming a critical theatre-maker.

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

MASTERS

Collaborative Project (Option)†

Dramaturgy in Practice (Core)

Perspectives on Performance (Core)

Practice as Research Project (Option)†

Research Project (Option)†

Research Territories (Core)

Writing about Theatre (Core)

Writing for Theatre (Core)

† Some courses may offer optional modules. The availability of optional modules may vary from year to year and will be subject to minimum student numbers being achieved. This means that the availability of specific optional modules cannot be guaranteed. Optional module selection may also be affected by staff availability.

Modules are assessed by a combination of written essay, critical portfolio, student blog, funding form, prospective journal article, panel discussion, individual and group presentation and/or focused practical workshop or performance. Student progress is subject to continuous assessments on all modules in the programme in addition to final assessed outputs.

Assessment will focus on: demonstration of practical and theoretical engagement with research; articulation and demonstration of knowledge regarding a wide range of theatre performance; critical enquiry and analysis; and contextualising students' own work and the work of others within the field of historical or contemporary performance practice and scholarship.

Students on the MA Theatre play an active role in choosing the focus and, in some cases, even the modes of their assessments in consultation with relevant module tutors and in ways that align with their individual career goals. This practice embraces the University of Lincoln's core ethos of ‘Student as Producer’ by empowering postgraduate students to shape and take ownership of their learning.

Assessment Feedback

The University of Lincoln's policy on assessment feedback aims to ensure that academics will return in-course assessments to you promptly – usually within 15 working days after the submission date.

Applicants may be asked to attend an interview in person or over Skype. Written evidence will be required in the form of a recent sample of critical or creative writing. Please contact programme leaders for further information:

Loans

A new system of postgraduate loans for Master's courses has been introduced in the UK. Under the new scheme individuals** will be able to borrow up to £10,609 for the purpose of completing an eligible postgraduate Master's qualification.

Scholarships

As a postgraduate student you may be eligible for scholarships in addition to those shown above.

Guidance for Part-time Postgraduate Fees

To complete a standard Master's Taught programme, you must complete 180 credit points.

Full time students will be invoiced for the programme in full upon initial enrolment.

For part-time students, tuition fees are payable each credit point enrolled. To calculate your part-time fees, multiply the part-time fee per credit point by the number of credits you intend to complete within that academic year. This is usually between 60 and 90 credit points per year.

For example, if the fee per credit point for your programme is £38, and you enrol on 60 credits, the tuition fee payable for that academic year will be £2280.

Fees for enrolment on additional modules

Tuition fees for additional activity are payable by the student/sponsor and charged at the equivalent £ per credit point rate for each module. Additional activity includes:

- Enrolment on modules that are in addition to the validated programme curriculum

- Enrolment on modules that are over and above the full credit diet for the relevant academic year

- Retakes of modules as permitted by the Board of Examiners

Exceptionally tuition fees may not be payable where a student has been granted a retake with approved extenuating circumstances.

For further information and for details about funding your study, scholarships and bursaries, please see our Postgraduate Fees & Funding pages [www.lincoln.ac.uk/home/studyatlincoln/postgraduateprogrammes/feesandfunding/].

Other Costs

For each course you may find that there are additional costs. These may be with regard to the specific clothing, materials or equipment required.

With regards to text books, the University provides students who enrol with a comprehensive reading list and you will find that our extensive library holds either material or virtual versions of the core texts that you are required to read. However, you may prefer to purchase some of these for yourself and you will be responsible for this cost.

Throughout this degree, students may receive tuition from professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, researchers, practitioners, visiting experts or technicians, and they may also be supported in their learning by other students.

Michael was a founding member of Metro-Boulot-Dodo theatre company. His work has been selected four times for the British Council Edinburgh Showcase and will feature in the forthcoming Routledge publication, Twenty First Century Performance Reader.

Siobhan co-edited Devised Performance in Irish Theatre. Her monograph, Theatre, Performance and Design: Scenographies in a Modernizing Ireland, is forthcoming with Palgrave Macmillan. She is on the executive committee of the Irish Society for Theatre Research and was part of the curatorial team for Ireland's participation in the Prague Quadrennial 2015.

Career and Personal Development

This programme may be suited for graduates with good honours degrees in a relevant subject, and is suitable for those who may not have studied drama as undergraduates. We also welcome creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge and skills and attain a higher degree. Students on this programme are mentored by academics and by practitioners with industry contacts. Our students have the opportunity to benefit from a combination of practical experience and theoretical study, which is designed to advance their career prospects as practitioners and aims to prepare them for roles in theatre and media production and management. They may also choose to progress to study at MPhil/PhD level.

Careers Services

The University Careers and Employability Team offer qualified advisors who can work with you to provide tailored, individual support and careers advice during your time at the University. As a member of our alumni we also offer one-to-one support in the first year after completing your course, including access to events, vacancy information and website resources; with access to online vacancies and virtual and website resources for the following two years.

This service can include one-to-one coaching, CV advice and interview preparation to help you maximise your future opportunities.The service works closely with local, national and international employers, acting as a gateway to the business world.

Career and Personal Development

This programme may be suited for graduates with good honours degrees in a relevant subject, and is suitable for those who may not have studied drama as undergraduates. We also welcome creative practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge and skills and attain a higher degree. Students on this programme are mentored by academics and by practitioners with industry contacts. Our students have the opportunity to benefit from a combination of practical experience and theoretical study, which is designed to advance their career prospects as practitioners and aims to prepare them for roles in theatre and media production and management. They may also choose to progress to study at MPhil/PhD level.

Careers Services

The University Careers and Employability Team offer qualified advisors who can work with you to provide tailored, individual support and careers advice during your time at the University. As a member of our alumni we also offer one-to-one support in the first year after completing your course, including access to events, vacancy information and website resources; with access to online vacancies and virtual and website resources for the following two years.

This service can include one-to-one coaching, CV advice and interview preparation to help you maximise your future opportunities.The service works closely with local, national and international employers, acting as a gateway to the business world.

At Lincoln, we constantly invest in our campus as we aim to provide the best learning environment for our students. Whatever the area of study, the University strives to ensure students have access to specialist equipment and resources, to develop the skills, which they may need in their future career.

Students can work and perform in the University’s on-campus Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, a £6 million, 450-seat professional theatre with industry-standard studio spaces. The Centre, part of a busy arts community, hosts professional performances alongside student productions.

Students can study and research in the University's Great Central Warehouse Library, which provides more than 250,000 printed books and approximately 400,000 electronic books and journals, as well as databases and specialist collections. The Library has a range of different spaces for shared and individual learning.